Governor DeSantis was asked in an interview he did yesterday about the hardcore MAGA supporters who are accusing him of being the establishment candidate and whether he thinks they really believe that.

DeSantis responded that he doesn’t think they actually believe he’s establishment, but then described them this way:

We have a strand in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO or not. And so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread – unless you’re kissing his rear end they will somehow call you a RINO. So it’s been totally detached from principle and what you actually believe and results, and it’s more about just what faction you happen to do.

So there’ll be people who are huge Trump supporters like in Congress who have incredibly liberal, left-wing records that’s really just atrocious and yet they’re viewed as, by some of these folks, as like really, really good. Then you have other people, like a Congressman Chip Roy who’s endorsed me; Congressman Thomas Massie – these guys have records of principle, fighting the swamp that are second to none. And yet they will be attacked by some of these people and called RINOS. So it’s just been totally detached from any type of substance.

And ultimately, a movement can’t be about the personality of one individual. The movement has got to be about what you are trying to achieve on behalf of the American people, and that’s got to be based in principle. Because if you’re not rooted in principle – if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement.

Nailed it.

This came at the beginning of an interview with Will Witt at the Florida Standard. You can watch it below.

But first let me give you the great defense DeSantis laid out of not being ‘establishment’, as he’s accused by these MAGA diehards. Here’s what he said:

Well, it’s just totally fabricated. I mean, I have the boldest record of any elected Republican in the country.

I mean, how many Repub– establishment Republicans would send troops to the southern border? How many establishment Republicans would ban transgender surgeries for minors? How many establishment Republicans would eliminate critical race theory from our K through 12 schools? How many establishment Republicans would have been willing to fund transportation for illegal aliens to go to Martha’s Vineyard? How many establishment Republicans would have done the Constitutional Carry for Second Amendment or the Heartbeat Bill? So it just flies in the face of everything that we’ve ever done for our record. And oh, by the way, I mean, I’ve been fighting the Republican establishment my whole career, including as a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.

We showed how it’s done in Florida. We came in, we drained the swamp here in Florida, and the state’s never done better as a result. And we won a victory that no Republican governor candidate has ever achieved in the history of the state of Florida.

DeSantis could have also mentioned taking on Disney. That’s CLEARLY not something the establishment approved of and many of them criticized him for it, including Nikki Haley.

Now, here’s the full interview for you: